Boy feared dead after NT crocodile attack

A boy is feared dead after he was attacked by a crocodile while swimming in the Northern Territory.

The 12-year-old boy was swimming with a group of people in waters at Port Bradshaw in East Arnhem Land when he was grabbed by the crocodile about 12.30pm, Northern Territory police said.

It is believed the adults who were with the boy tried to save him by spearing the crocodile but it dragged him out to deeper water, Superintendent Michael White said.

Officers from Nhulunbuy police station, about 80km north of where the attack took place, are currently at Port Bradshaw searching for the boy and the crocodile.

Superintendent White said members of the local Sea Rangers would also assist with the search.

"This is a tragic circumstance for the child's family and friends, and highlights the dangers of swimming in waterways in the Top End," he said.

The attack on the 12-year-old boy comes after a seven-year-old girl was taken by a crocodile while she was swimming with other children and an adult at a local waterhole in the Northern Territory last month.

The girl was at the Gumarrirnbang outstation, 100km west of the remote community of Maningrida, when she was grabbed on November 17.

She was last seen being dragged under the water by the animal, which had also attacked the man who had been with her in the billabong.

A three-metre crocodile was shot dead in the billabong the next day and human remains were found inside it.